Surgical drapes are used to cover portions of a patient and surrounding areas to create a sterile barrier and maintain a sterile field during surgical procedures. Draping prevents the passage of fluids and microorganisms between nonsterile and sterile areas, and drapes may or may not include absorbent materials. Surgical draping may be used to maintain sterility in and about the surgical site not only during a medical procedure, but also after the operation is complete and the patient is recovering.
Surgical drapes may be used to cover a patient in a manner that exposes and isolates a prepared surgical site. Different types of drapes may be employed for different procedures, and may have features adapted for use on specific body parts or with specific instrumentation. In some cases, drapes are provided with a fenestration to allow a single drape to surround the surgical site on all sides. For some procedures, fenestrations of different sizes are used with patients of different sizes. In many cases, it has been necessary to stock plural drapes with fenestrations of different sizes.
It has now been found that a surgical drape can be prepared with an adjustable fenestration opening that readily permits changes to be made to the size of the fenestration through without cutting or tearing of the drape material. In some forms, a surgical drape comprises a large sheet of flexible material having a fenestration, the sheet having one or more areas of a first adhering material on at least one surface in order to attach a smaller removable panel having a smaller fenestration. The removable panel has one or more areas of a second adhering material complementary to the first adhering material in order to removably affix the panel to the sheet. Optionally, the drape may include removable strips to permit adjustments to the exterior dimensions of the drape. For instance, a drape may include overlapping strips affixed at one or more border areas that can be removed to decrease the length or width of the drape.